Golf club



Feb. 26, 1929. I 1303.581

) A. GAVIN GOLF CLUB Filed Feb. 23, 1926 Patented Feb: 26,, 1929.

ALPHONSUS GAVIN, or donnrmnn,

NEVADA, ASSIGNOR TO NOVAK CLUB INC., 01?

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ,A CORPORATION OF NEVADA.

can own.

Application filed February 28, 1926. Serial No. 90,118.

The present invention relates particularly to adjustable golf clubswherein the spoon or blade may be adjusted to various angles withrespect to the shaft and thereby impart to the club as a whole theproperties which go to make up the distinguishing characteristics ofseveral different types of golf clubs.

It is an object of this invention to devise an adjustable head golf'clubwhich will not differ greatly in appearance from the ordinary non-adustable club.

It is a further object of this invention to devise a pivoting andlocking mechanism for an adjustable golf club which will permit themanufacture of such clubs in weights not greater than that of standardclubs.

Further objects of the invention will ap-. pear from the followingdescription in which I have set forth the preferred embodiment of theinvention. It is to be understood that the scope of the invention is tobe determined from the appended claims and the state of the prior art.

A satisfactory embodiment of the'invenings forming part of thespecification and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the lower endportion of a golf club, constructed in accordance with my invention andshowing a portion of the invention by dotted lines.

Figure 2 is a front end elevation of Figure 1 with parts thereof brokenaway to disclose the construction and relation of other parts. Figure 3is a detail rear or inner end elevation of the blade.

,Figure 4 is a detail front elevation of the base member and showing thelock pin in place. v

Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of Figure 4 and taken at right anglesthereto and with the lock pin removed, and I Figure 6 is a detailperspective of the lock pin.

The shaft 5 is of ordinary construction. A metallic ferrule 6 has itsupper end adapted to be fixedly connected to the shaft 5 and is providedwith an axially screw threaded bore 7 in its lower end portion. There isalso provided a'base member 0 including a screw tion is illustrated inthe accompanying drawvupstandin threaded shank portion 8 which isscrewed into the screw threaded bore 7 of the furrule,

the threads of the bore and the shank being i left handed so as toprevent accidental turning or unscrewing of the shank in the use of theclub. The head 9 of base a is arranged at the lower end of the shank 8and is provided-with an oblong inner side 10 which conformssubstantially in size to the surface of the inner end 11 of the blade 12and provides a bearing and supporting surface for v the said inner end11. A centrally disposed socket 13 in the inner side 10 is adapted toreceive the head 14 of a tailpiece disposed substantially centrally ofthe inner end 11 of the blade 12 and a reduced neck 15 of the saidtailpiece which integrally connects the head 14 with the blade 12. Thesocket 13 is extended downwardly as at 15' and is undercut at thisportion, as indicated at 17,

for the reception of a segment of the head 14 after the said head 14 andneck 15 are introduced into the socket and then moved downwardly, ortoward the outer end of the head, all of which is shown by dotted linesin Figure 1, where it will be observed that the provision of the undercut 17 operates to prevent outward movement of the blade by locking thehead 14, the tailpiece being so proportioned that the neck 15 and head14 thereof snugly fit within the socket and the undercut ortion.

The blade 12 is additionally secured by an g rib 18 located on the innerend portion and upper side of the blade and disposed so as groove 19 onthe lower face of an overhang 20 disposed at the upper end of the head.In this way the blade is additionally held against accidental outwardmovement. The tailpiece is so disposed as to permit blade 12 to beturnedangularly, and the adjacent surfaces of the undercut portion 19 and ofthe rib 18 are curved so that these surfaces bear one upon the otherthroughout the turning movement of. the blade. When the blade is turnedfor a distance sufficient to disengage the rib 18 from the undercut 19the blade may be readil detached from the head by a movement w ichretracts the engaged porto nicely fit Within an'undercut tion of head itfrom the undercut 17 into socket l3, and then by imparting a furtherwall of bore 7 bears upon the inner end of.

lock pin 2% and thereby holds the lock pin rigid when the teeth 22thereof interlock with the teeth 21 of rib 18. in this way the blade 12is positively held against turning or angular movement, but a slightturn of shaft I 5 retracts the inner end wall of bore 7 from theadjacent end of the lock .pin and allows axial nioveinent thereof whenthe blade is turned manually in either direction, it being observed thatthe teeth 21 and 22 are so constructed as to permit of the teeth2lunderriding the teeth 22 when axial movement of lock pin 24 ispermitted,

llhe markings of a scale of degrees may be formed on the front face ofoverhang 20, as indicated by 26', and a middle line 27 on blade 12immediately below the scale, so that the operator may readily adjustblade 12 to the angle required. A. ring or other suitable stop 28 ispreferably arranged in a groove 29 in the inner end portion of the lockpin 2% and by its presence prevents accidental displacement of the lockpin 24 when the blade is detached from the base a.

It is pbvious that the above club incorporates many novel and desirablefeatures. As the axis of the pivotal connection is inclined to the soleof the head, a change'in the angle of the strikingiface is accompaniedby a corresponding change in the lie of the head. By lie I refer to thegeneralangle which the sole makes with respect to the shaft. In Fig.

' position the 3 the striking face is shown at substantial the correctangle for the midiron In this pivotal axis is about directly above thesole. Therefore as the loft is varied to about the correct value for adriving iron,

' there will be substantially no variation in the lie. However, as theloft is changed to that of a niblick the angle of lie will becorrespondingly increased to the correct value of a club of thischaracter. As the pivotal axis is placed above the end of the soleneither the body portion nor the rib 18 need be made excessively wide inorder to obtain a Wide variation of lofts.

The club has added utility in the fact that the pivotalconnection may belocked or released me rely-by rotation of the shaft, This constructionmakes possible an adjustable club in which the movable parts areentirely mos sai will also be observed that the location of the rib 18and thefiared portion 2-3 of thelock 10 provide an interlockingengagement of sufany blow which may be imparted by the blade when theclub is in use.

I claim:

A golf club having a head member provided with a striking face, a shaft,a body member secured to said shaft, and means for pivotally connectingsaid head and body member, said means including a projection on one ofsaid members adapted to fit into a slot in the other member, saidprojection having an enlarged integral head interfitting a groove insaid slot, and means for locking said head to the body member,

2. golf club having a blade provided with a striking face, a shankportion, a handle connected to the shank portion, said shank portionvhaving a recess, a projection on said blade interlocking in. saidrecess, anarcuate recess in the shank above said first named recess, andan arcnate segment on said blade adapted to be received in said arcuaterecess.

3. A. golf club having a blade provided with a striking face, a shankportion, a handle connected to the shank port-ion, said shank portionhavin a recess, a projection on said blade interloching in said recess,an arcuate recess in the shank above said first named recess, an'arcuate segment on said blade.

adapted to fit within said arcuate recess, and means operable uponrotation of said handle for locking said blade with respect to theshank. r

{4. A golf club having a blade provided [with a striking face, a shankportion, means for pivotally securing said blade to the shank portionfor adjustment about an axis normal to the shaft of the club, an arcuatesegment on the blade engaging a recess in the shank portion, and meansoperable upon'a-xial rotation of the shaft to fix the position of theblade with respect to the shank portion.

I 5. A golf club having'a blade provided to theshaft of the club, anarcuate segment on the blade engaging a recess in the shank portion, amovable lockingpin disposed within the shank, and means operable uponrotation 80 ficient strength to withstand the reaction of r of thehandle of theclub to force said pin into locking engagement with saidsegment.

6. A golf club comprising a blade portion and a shank portion, aprojection on one of said portions pivotally engaging said otherportion, ing a radius of curvature substantially greater than the radiusof the projection, a recess in the shank portion adapted to receive saidsegment, a pin movably mounted within the shank, and means for forcingsaid pin into locking engagement with said serrated portion. Y

7. A golf club comprising a blade portion and a shank portion, aprojection on oneof said portions pivotally engaging said other portion,a serrated segment .on the blade having a radius of curvaturesubstantially greater than the radius of the projection, arecess in theshank portion adapted to receive said segment, a pin movably mountedwithin the shank, a handle connected to the shank portion, and meansoperable upon axial rotation of the handle with respect to the blade forforcing said pin into locking engagement with the serrated segment.

8. A golf club comprismg a blade portion, a shank portion, means foroining said blade to said shank portion along a plane substantiallyparallel to the axis of the shank portion,

a projection onone of the portions for pivotally connecting saidportions together, an

arcuate'segment carried by said blade portion contiguous with said planeand having a radius substantially greater than the radius of saidprojection, said shank portionbeing recessed to receive said segmentportion, .a pin movably mounted within a bore provided in the shankportion, a handle connected to the shank portion, and means operableupon axial rota-tion of he handle relative to the blade to force saidpin into locking engagement with the arcuate segment portion.

9. In an adjustable golf club, a base member including a shank having anopen-ended bore, a head extending downwardly and outwardly from one endof the shank and having in one face thereof a socket and further hav ingan undercut overhang adjacent to the shank and extending beyond thesocketed face of the head, a blade having an integral tailpiece disposedupon the inner end thereof and turnably mounted within the socket. ofthe head, a serrated rib at the inner end portion of the upper side ofthe blade disposed within the undercut of the head, a lock pin slidablyfitted in the bore of the shank and having an end portion engaging theserrations of the rib, and .a handle adjustably connected to .the shankand adapted when in one position of adjustment to bear upon the lock.pin and jjmld the same against movement within the ore.

I 10. In an adjustable golf club, a base mema serrated segment on theblade havthe inner end portion of the upper side of the blade disposedwithin the curved undercut of the head, a'lock pin slidably fitted inthe bore of the shank and having a flared Serrated end portion engagingthe serrations of the rib, and a shaft adjustably connected to the shankand adapted when in one position of adjustment to bear upon the lock pinand gold the same against movement within the ore. v

11. In an adjustable olf club, a base member including a screw t readedshank having an open-ended bore, a head extending downwardly andoutwardly from one end of the shank and having in one face thereof anelongated socket, a portion of which is undercut, the said head furtherhaving a curved undercut overhang adjacent to the shank and extendingbeyond the socketed face of the head, a blade having an integraltailpiece disposed upon the inner end thereof and including an' enlargedhead arranged within the undercut of the socket and a reduced neckturnable upon the side wall of the socket, a curved serrated rib at theinner end portion of the upper side of the blade disposed within-"thecurved undercut of the head, a lock pin slidably fitted in the bore ofthe shank and having .a flared serrated end portion engaging theserrations of the rib, a shaft, a ferrule secured to the shaft andhaving an internally screw threaded bore receiving shank, the inner endof said bore being adapted to bear upon the lock pin to hold the sameagainst movement within the bore of the shank when the said ferrule isscrewed down upon the projection on one of said members serving as meansfor pivotally connectingsaid memhere together, a serratedarc'uatesegment on said blade having a 'radius substantially greaterthan the radius of said projection and interlocking a recess in saidshank, and

means slidable with respect to said second mentioned member adapted tohe forced into locking engagement With said serrated portion.

13. A golf club comprising a blade member, a handle, a member secured tothe lower end of said handle, a projection on one of said membersservingns meens for pivotally connecting said members together, aserrated arcuate segment on said blade having a, radius substantiallygreater than the radius of said projection, and means slidubly disposedwith respect to said second mentioned ,memher adapted to be forced intolocking engagement with said serrated portion, said means being actuatedupon rotation of said handle.

ALPHUNSUS GAVIN,

